Dentaltown June 2019 - 54

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You have a 7,000-square-foot practice in one of the most
unique settings imaginable for a dental office: a former mall
that's undergoing a renaissance.
My practice is in the heart of downtown Scranton, Pennsylvania.
The building was previously a retail mall, but after a declining retail
economy, and transition of ownership, it's morphing into mostly
professional space known as The Marketplace.
My practice is very patient-centered: People enter The Marketplace
via escalators and elevators from a well-lit free garage to the first floor,
where my practice is. Inside, the waiting room features more than
20 La-Z-Boy chairs and a disability-accessible bathroom-one of
five total bathrooms in the office. A large granite counter functions
as the interface between patients and my administrative staff, and
patients can enter the clinical area from entrances on either side
of the reception area.
The clinical space is divided into areas based on purpose. One
hallway is mostly all operatories; the interior houses multifunction
hybrid hygiene rooms. The opposite side of the office contains an
in-house lab, where I have full milling capabilities; my Panorex and
other hardware are also on that side. A central sterilization with
counter space and autoclaves connects the right and left hallways
of the office. Patient consultation rooms are also contained in a
designated area. The entire rear of my office is for my staff. We have
a large multipurpose room with a full kitchen, as well as tables and
seating for learning sessions. Lastly, there are three offices (two with
full bathrooms) that can each accommodate at least one dentist.
There's a significant amount of activity happening at The
Marketplace. Other tenants include a multispecialty medical group,

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JUNE 2019 // dentaltown.com

an aquarium and reptile den, a bank, Crunch Gym and Luzerne
Community College. Across the street, construction is nearing
completion for luxury apartments. It's a great time to be in Scranton,
and I am grateful to be part of its revolution.

You didn't just up and decide to open one of the largest
practices in the state; there was a lot of planning and a lot of
experiences that led you to the decision.
I worked as an independent contractor for a few offices, one
of which I assumed offered partnership opportunities. Practically
speaking, I focused most of my clinical efforts there and worked in
two other offices that were closer to where my husband was completing
his residency. It became obvious in 2017 that partnership wasn't
an option at the main office-and even more ominous, the owner
was exploring options consistent with dental service organizations.
I had zero interest in that model, and the lack of communication
and transparency was enough to determine what I didn't want for my
career. My husband, David, and I did a lot of soul-searching and had
some significant conversations when we realized what I thought was
substantiating a path to partnership was actually practice-building
for a practice where I would only ever be an employee.
Fortunately, I'd never signed a noncompete or a restrictive
covenant. I was also the main dentist in the office and had a large
patient base. Admittedly, at 28 years old, this was a precarious
situation, the thought of leaving an office and potentially doing
it on my own. Serendipitously, the decision was made for me: My
former boss knew that my goals and his were not parallel. I was
fired on Good Friday of 2017 after refusing to sign a contract to
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Dentaltown June 2019

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